More than a fifth of the UAE economy is directly linked to the built environment, with construction accounting for 12.9 percent of GDP in 2025 and real estate a further 7.4 percent. The UAE is the Gulf's largest construction market by project volume, with 628 active developments worth $138 billion as of mid-2026.

Grant Thornton UAE and Heriot-Watt University Dubai have published new research showing that women are playing a bigger role in shaping the UAE's built environment than is often recognised. It points to a shift beyond landmark construction towards more complex and multi-disciplinary projects which require diverse perspectives and broader leadership approaches.

‘Building the UAE’s next chapter. How women are reshaping value, resilience and innovation in the built environment ’ is the third edition of the Grant Thornton UAE Discovery Series, following the report into female representation in financial services in 2025. It draws on in-depth interviews with five senior women leaders across construction, technology, architecture, real estate, sustainability advocacy, and education, and profiles a further 20 women who have visibly shaped the country's physical landscape.

The UAE has one of the strongest pipelines of female STEM talent, with women accounting for 56 percent of STEM graduates. The research shows that converting that talent into leadership is still a worldwide challenge.

Professor Dame Heather McGregor, Provost and Vice Principal of Heriot-Watt University Dubai, points to the gap between the talent coming through and the leaders at the top. "The UAE has shown what is possible when policy, education and industry work together," she says. "The talent is there. The opportunity now is to ensure more women are supported to build lasting careers and progress into leadership. As the built environment becomes more complex and skills-intensive, this is more than a question of representation – it is a business imperative."

Women make up around 14 percent of the construction workforce in both the US and the EU, and in the UK almost half of the women who leave the industry do so before the age of 34. Long hours, rigid working patterns and male-dominated cultures are the barriers most often cited.

Hisham Farouk, CEO of Grant Thornton UAE, said: "The UAE has always been ambitious in how it has built for the future. The opportunity now is to be equally ambitious about who shapes that future. The women in this report are already shaping how communities are designed, how technology is adopted and how future talent is developed. By making their leadership more visible and widening the path for others to lead, we can build a sector that is more innovative, resilient and ready for what comes next.”

The leaders interviewed agreed that the future of the sector lies in liveable, sustainable places designed around human needs. And while AI is already helping to measure emissions, fix legacy data and automate fabrication, they see it as a tool that supports human judgement, creativity and experience, not a replacement for it.

The five leaders interviewed for the report are Dr Habiba Al Mar'ashi, Co-founder and Board Member, Emirates Green Building Council; Mireille Azzam-Vidjen, Executive Director and Head of Strategic Consulting Middle East and Africa, JLL; Dr Harpreet Seth, Head of Architecture and Associate Professor, Heriot-Watt University Dubai; Leila Sobek, Founder and Director, BMA Studio; and Dr Sonia Zahiroddiny, Chief Information Officer, Innovo Group.

Sector context: the numbers

• In 2025, construction was 12.9% of the UAE’s $517.2bn GDP and real estate added another 7.4%. That means more than a fifth of the economy is tied directly to the built environment.
• UAE construction grew 11.1% in 2025, the fastest of any reported sector. GlobalData expects growth to slow to 4.8% in 2026.
• 628 active developments worth $138bn were under way as of mid-2026, according to ADCCI.
• The sector is moving towards fewer but more complex projects, led by energy, utilities and infrastructure.

The gender gap

• Women are 56% of UAE STEM graduates but under a third of the global STEM workforce.
• Women hold 14.7% of board seats in the UAE real estate sector.
• Construction is still heavily male-dominated. Women make up 14.3% of the US construction workforce, 14.5% in the EU and 24.6% in the UK. In the UK, almost half of the women who leave the industry do so before the age of 34.
• 88 companies, including DP World, Masdar and Jacobs, have signed the UAE Gender Balance Council pledge to put women in 30% of leadership roles.
• The UAE ranks 13th globally and first regionally on the UNDP Gender Inequality Index. It ranks first in the Arab world in the WEF Global Gender Gap Report 2025.